Banias Waterfall on Hermon River in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Cableway to Mount Hermon in Golan Heights. The Middle East. February 19, 2000
Near the Banias Falls on Hermon River in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, October 24, 2005
Decorated niche cut in rock cliff (in which a statue probably stood in the past) near a temple to the god of Pan in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Sunset Park Drive in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, October 22, 2005
Cave of Pan and springs in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Cayuga Heights(?) Road in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, October 24, 2005
A house at Cayuga Heights Road in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, October 24, 2005
Kherouiaa village in Lebanon (?), view from Road 989. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Skiing from Mount Hermon. Golan Heights, the Middle East, February 19, 2000
Cayuga Heights and Cayuga Lake north-west from Johnson Museum of Art of Cornell University. Ithaca, New York, November 8, 2005
A road through Hermon Reserve. Golan Heights, the Middle East, February 19, 2000
View to the direction of Beirut from Mount Bental near a border with Syria. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Cayuga Heights Road in snow. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum mushrooms growing on a broken and rotting pine at one meter height (larger group at 3 meter height) on Caney Creek Trail (Little Lake Creek Loop Trail) in Sam Houston National Forest, near Huntsville. Texas, June 30, 2018
A lake and a road near Mount Hermon. Golan Heights, the Middle East, February 19, 2000
Growing actinidia (?) in an extinct volcano of Mount Bental near a border with Syria, with a top secret Israeli reconnaissance station on background. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Wyskoff Road in Cayuga Heights neighborhood after snowfall. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Abandoned fort on Mount Bental near a border with Syria. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Abandoned fort on Mount Bental near a border with Syria, with melting snow on Mount Hermon on background. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Salt Meadow overlook of Pilgrim Heights trail. Truro, Massachusetts, March 20, 2004
A house at Cayuga Heights Road in fresh snow. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Temple to Pan in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Cayuga Heights Road in heavy snow. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
A view from Mount Hermon. Golan Heights, the Middle East, February 19, 2000
Abandoned fort on Mount Bental near a border with Syria. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Corson Pl.(?) in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Cayuga Heights north from Johnson Museum of Art of Cornell University. Ithaca, New York, November 8, 2005
A house at Cayuga Heights Road during snowfall. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Maple leaves at Renwick Drive. in Cayuga Heights neighborhood after snowfall. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Eucalyptus in Israeli military base. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
A house at Wyskoff Road in Cayuga Heights neighborhood. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
Power station on Hermon River in Banias Park. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Abandoned fort on Mount Bental near a border with Syria. Golan Heights, the Middle East, April 7, 2001
Long Point Lighthouse with Mayflower Heights in background. Provincetown, Massachusetts, March 20, 2004
A house at Cayuga Heights Road during heavy snowfall. Ithaca, New York, November 24, 2005
This monument on the Communist Section of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra marks the grave of Mikhail Abramovich Fishman (1890-1935), a Bolshevik cadre and Civil War veteran. Prominently situated along the main avenue facing the entrance to Holy Trinity Cathedral, the grave is known locally as the "Sentry" (:0427:0430:0441:043e:0432:043e:0439). The memorial features a full-length, life-size statue of a Red Army soldier standing vigil against a dark, round-topped granite stele. Clad in a belted greatcoat (shinel), cartridge pouches, and a peaked budenovka cloth helmet bearing a star, the bronze-toned figure holds a slung Mosin rifle at attention. Placed directly on monastery ground during the height of militant Soviet secularism, the armed revolutionary guard stands as an unmistakable ideological statement, posted as an eternal sentinel facing the Orthodox cathedral. Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 18, 2016
Cross-veined troop mushrooms Xeromphalina kauffmanii in moss on an old rotted stump of a large tree on a slope without forest on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Cross-veined troop mushrooms Xeromphalina kauffmanii on an old mossy stump of a large tree on a slope without forest on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Small troop mushrooms Xeromphalina kauffmanii on an old mossy stump of a large tree on a slope without forest on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Bracket polypore mushroom on a fallen tree in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Pore surface of a bracket polypore mushroom in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Blue flower of Hepatica (Pechonochnitsa in Russian) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) on a broken hazelnut bush on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) on a dry broken hazelnut bush on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Cluster of spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) on a dry broken hazelnut bush on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) together with birch blackhead (Diatrypella favacea) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Ascomycete fungus Encoelia furfuracea on a dry broken hazelnut on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Close-up of spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Dried cups of spring hazelcup fungus (Encoelia furfuracea) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Birch blackhead (Diatrypella favacea) growing through bark on a dry hazelnut on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Pattern of birch blackhead (Diatrypella favacea) on a dry hazelnut on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Some bracket polypore mushroom on rotting wood in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Close-up of birch blackhead (Diatrypella favacea) on a dry hazelnut on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Close-up of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Details of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Side view of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Top view of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Black formations of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Upper surface of fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on a dry stem of hazelnut(?) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Fungus Biscogniauxia repanda on wood of hazelnut(?) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Corticioid fungus Peniophora incarnata on a hazelnut stem of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Blue flowers of Hepatica (Pechonochnitsa in Russian) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Close-up of a blue flower of Hepatica (Pechonochnitsa in Russian) on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Hazel woodwart fungus (Hypoxylon fuscum) on a hazelnut stem on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Young hazel woodwart fungus (Hypoxylon fuscum) on a hazelnut stem on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Close-up of hazel woodwart fungus (Hypoxylon fuscum) on a hazelnut stem on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Jelly fungus Exidia nigricans on wood in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Texture of hazel woodwart fungus (Hypoxylon fuscum) on a hazelnut stem on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Yellow brain fungus (Tremella mesenterica) on a dry tree on Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Lungwort (Pulmonaria obscura, Russian name Medunitsa) in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Corticioid fungus Hypoxylon vogesiacum on dry wood in a hazelnut forest on a slope of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Scarlet elfcup mushrooms (Sarcoscypha austriaca) at the foot of Orekhovaya Gora Hill in Duderhof Heights, south from Saint Petersburg. Russia, May 9, 2021
Bernal Heights from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Bernal Heights and Bay from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Dolores Heights and Mission from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Area of Dolores Heights and Mission from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Area of Dolores Heights from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Bernal Heights at evening from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Mission District and Potrero Hill from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Bernal Heights after sunset from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Potrero Hill from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Bernal Heights at dusk from a back porch at Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco, California, March 13, 2024
Bernal Heights summit from Billy Goat Hill in San Francisco. California, March 14, 2024
Bernal Heights summit after sunset from Billy Goat Hill in San Francisco. California, March 14, 2024
30th Street and Bernal Heights from Billy Goat Hill in San Francisco. California, March 14, 2024
Bernal Heights summit in dusk from Billy Goat Hill in San Francisco. California, March 14, 2024
Chinese Gazebo (often called the Creaking Pagoda or Skripuchaya Besedka) which is one of the most eccentric and picturesque structures in Catherine Park. Built between 1778 and 1786, this pavilion was designed by Yury Felten (Georg Friedrich Veldten) at the height of the 18th-century craze for Chinoiserie (Chinese-style art). The pavilion gets its popular nickname from the metal weather vane on its roof. Shaped like a Chinese banner, it was intentionally designed to creak loudly in the wind. Originally, such pavilions served as tea houses or resting spots for the Empress and her court during their walks. Pushkin (former Tsarskoe Selo) near Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 10, 2025
View of a late-Soviet brick residential quarter (kirpichnaya khrushchevka) deeply integrated with the mature nature of the Vyborgsky district, captured at the beautiful but fleeting peak of autumn. View from this window providing a glimpse into Soviet-era urban planning, specifically the residential design of the 1960s. The beige brick buildings visible in the frame are classic examples of "Khrushchevka" (Series 1-528). Unlike the cheaper concrete panel blocks (panelki), these are constructed from silicate brick, which was considered a "premium" material for mass housing at the time. They are easily identified by their 5-story height, hipped roofs (often replaced with metal sheeting), and specific balcony arrangements. Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 11, 2025
A classic alley in Upper Park during the height of autumn. Oranienbaum palace-and-park ensemble in Lomonosov (a suburb of St. Petersburg), Russia, October 13, 2025
A view from a window near Svetlanovsky Prospekt that offers an intimate look into a typical residential courtyard (dvor) of the Vyborgsky District. The beige brick buildings framing the scene are classic examples of brick Khrushchev-era apartments (or early Brezhnev-era), likely built in the 1960s. The 5-story height was standard to avoid the mandatory installation of elevators, which was required for buildings of 6 stories or more. This layout reflects the Soviet microdistrict concept, where residential blocks were arranged around green, communal courtyards to provide light, air, and recreation space away from the main roads. Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 14, 2025
This view emphasizes the imposing nature of Hermann Castle while revealing the stark reality of the modern frontier. From this angle, the Tall Hermann Tower looms directly overhead, showcasing its 51-meter height and white-washed stone upper sections. The massive limestone walls of the fortress rise steeply from the riverbank, illustrating why this stronghold was the northernmost defensive point of Livonia. In the foreground, the Friendship Bridge is heavily fortified, contrasting sharply with the medieval architecture. Rows of concrete "dragon s teeth" (pyramidal anti-tank obstacles) and coils of razor wire block the roadway. These fortifications, installed by Estonia around 2024-2025, serve as a physical barrier against potential military threats and unauthorized vehicle crossings, marking the bridge s transformation from a trade route into a secure defensive line. A blue, black, and white flag flies from the castle wall, asserting Estonian sovereignty. Modern security cameras are mounted on the utility pole in the foreground, highlighting the intense monitoring of this border zone. Estonia, October 16, 2025
This panoramic view from the newly opened viewing platform of St. Nicholas Church (Niguliste kirik) offers a perspective over Tallinn s Old Town. The prominent spire on the right is St. Olaf s Church (Oleviste kirik), once the tallest building in the world (1549-1625). Its commanding height makes it a key reference point in the city skyline. The sea of red-tiled roofs is a signature feature of Tallinn, interspersed with historic merchant houses and courtyards. In the middle distance, you can spot sections of the medieval city wall and defensive towers (like the ones near the Nunne gate area) that still encircle much of the lower town. In the background, the view stretches out to the Gulf of Finland, highlighting Tallinn s historic role as a major Hanseatic port city connecting trade between East and West. Estonia, October 16, 2025
A playful piece of garden art utilizing an antique wrought-iron bed frame, creating a literal "flower bed". The dark, heavily rusted metal frame features a classic design with curved corners and vertical iron spindles on both the headboard and footboard. Rather than holding a mattress, the space between the head and foot of the bed is completely filled with densely growing, low-profile green vegetation, pruned flat to mimic the shape and height of a mattress. This living "mattress" blends seamlessly into the surrounding garden landscape, with various other plants, shrubs, and spring-blooming bulbs growing freely around the base of the rusty metal legs and intertwined through the iron bars. Antique Rose Emporium. Independence, Texas, March 5, 2026
Looking along Lai Street near number 38 toward St. Olaf[CloseCurlyQuote]s Church (Oleviste kirik), whose square limestone tower and copper-clad spire rise above the surrounding houses to a height of 123.7 metres. Tall pointed recesses divide the tower[CloseCurlyQuote]s lower walls, while paired arched openings and four small corner pinnacles mark the transition to the spire. The houses on the right retain steep gables, small attic openings, and shuttered upper loading doors associated with their former storage use. Their irregular window arrangements and rough plaster contrast with the adjoining taller building[CloseCurlyQuote]s projecting bays and more elaborate fac,ade. Red-tiled roofs and the broad cobbled roadway define this section of Lai--[OpenCurlyDoubleQuote]Wide Street[CloseCurlyDoubleQuote]--within the Lower Old Town. Tallinn, Estonia, August 26, 2026
